EveryJoe » milwaukee

The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous Is Back

Kelly Phillips Erb — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:14:10 +0000

Schlitz Beer, It Made a City Famous\n\nIt was \”the beer that made Milwaukee famous.\”\n\nAnd it\’s back.\n\nPabst Brewing Co. began rolling out its original formula Schlitz beer on draft in several Midwest cities in mid-June. It will hit bars in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago in the next few weeks.\n\nSchlitz beer was, at one time, one of the most popular beers in America. The Schlitz brewery was founded by Joseph Schlitz, a German immigrant to Milwaukee, in 1850. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Schlitz donated thousands of barrels of beer to Chicago, which had lost most of its breweries. The brewery then expanded to Chicago and substantially increased distribution.\n\nBy the 1970s, the brewery was the second largest brewery in America (you can hear their claims as to demand in the commercial below) – but it didn\’t last long. A decade later, the company was on life support and was finally acquired by Stroh Brewery Company. In just a few years, under the Pabst Brewing Company umbrella, Schlitz had all but disappeared, distributed in cars and bottles in limited areas.\n\nUntil now.\n\nThe original formula Schlitz is making a comeback – on draft!\n\nYou can check out the brewery\’s take on the reintroduction here.\n\nBefore you rush off to grab yourself a Gusto, you have to watch this old commercial featuring Lionel Richie, his hair and the Commodores:\n\n\n\nAhh, nostalgia (not to mention that, in that ad, Lionel\’s hair is as large as daughter Nicole\’s entire body).\n\nPsst, if Schlitz isn\’t your favorite beer, let us know what is… Leave your comments on this prior post to win some great beer merch.\n\n(Image: AllPosters.com)

Post from: EveryJoe

The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous Is Back

Blatz Beer

Kelly Phillips Erb — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:34:23 +0000

Buy at AllPosters.com

Jon wasn’t fooled by our beer trivia!

He knew that Blatz was the real beer.

Blatz Brewery was originally called City Brewery of Milwaukee and was run by John Braun. After John Braun died, his neighbor and fellow brewer, Valentin Blatz married his widow and subsequently took over operations.

Blatz produced Milwaukee’s first individually bottled beer, beginning in 1874. By the 1900s, it was Milwaukee’s third largest brewer, brewing over a million barrels of beer annually. It was also the first Milwaukee brewery to market beer nationally and the first Milwaukee brewery to have an online bottling plant.

Despite its success, Blatz was eventually bought out by one of Milwaukee’s other breweries, Pabst, in the 1960s. It was subsequently sold off and through mergers, oddly enough, became part of Pabst again in 2007. Coincidentally, the CEO of Pabst is said to be Thomas Blatz.

As a follow-up, anybody know the fictitious “histories” of Shotz, Buzz and Duff beer?

Post from: EveryJoe

Blatz Beer

Schlemiel, Schlemazal

Chris — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:22:23 +0000

I recently stumbled across this webpage from the Wisconsin Historical Society profiling an original Schotz brewery smock from the Laverne and Shirley show, a 70’s sitcom hit set in Milwaukee. For those who don’t recall, the show revolved around two bottle-cappers from the fictional Shotz brewery, Laverne and Shirley, and their two foils, Lenny and “Squiggy.” Lenny and Squiggy are also employed by the brewery, as truck drivers.

My beerSmarts triva cards state that the Milwaukee brewery Blatz was the inspiration for the brewery, whereas the Wikipedia entry on Laverne and Shirley (more credibly, in my mind) suggests that it was Schlitz, noting that the women lived on a real street in Milwaukee not far from the Schlitz brewery. Of course, for all I know that’s actually close to the Blatz brewery as well.

The funny thing is, given the way our sense of morals has swung of late, I’m not sure the American public would accept such a beer-centric family program today. Instead, beer is typically the object of satire, as is the case with the Simpsons Duff beer or Drew Carey’s Buzz.

I don’t watch all that much TV any more, so tell me if I’m wrong, please.

Post from: EveryJoe

Schlemiel, Schlemazal